Modern entertainment devices such as set-top boxes, digital video recorders, placeshifting devices, and the like, typically provide a user interface that allows the viewer to fast-forward, reverse, play in slow-motion, and otherwise move back and forth with respect to the content being viewed. In this regard, digital devices such as digital video recorders (DVRs) and over-the-top (OTT) systems will often incorporate a “trick-mode” that quickly displays certain frames of the media content as the user activates the fast-forward and reverse features.
Because of the variability in the length of commercial advertisements, as well as other factors, it is very difficult to track exactly where within a media stream the user has activated a trick-mode feature. This is unfortunate, as such information would be particularly useful in tracking user viewing behavior—e.g., which scenes in a movie tend to be skipped over, which scenes are often replayed, which advertisements are actually viewed by users, and so on.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems, devices, and techniques for better tracking user viewing behavior. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.